Is that really Lord Lucan in a bikini?
A HISTORY OF LOVE ISLAND, PART 2
THE MID 1970s
By 1974, TV bosses had decided that the Love Island format needed a thorough revamp.
The previous year’s series had coincided with another production, the feature film The Wicker Man, being shot in the same location on a Hebridean island.
Sadly, the series suffered a bout of adverse publicity after three Love Island contestants, including a former member of Herman’s Hermits and a former presenter of TV’s Magpie, climbed to the top of the neighbouring wickerwork structure ‘for a bit of a laugh’.
Little did they realise that filming of The Wicker Man’s final scene was about to commence, with the wickerwork being set on fire.
But, as luck would have it, there were three other celebrities on hand to take their place on the show, including a former dancer with The young Generation. In those less enlightened times, the loss of a former pop singer and a former TV presenter was not considered particularly newsworthy, so the story barely merited a couple of paragraphs on page 12 of the Dundee Courier.
For the 1974 series revamp, contestants — including Syd Little, yootha Joyce and Cyril Fletcher — were required to wear full evening dress and white gloves at all times, and were forbidden from touching one another, or even exchanging glances. Clean-Up TV campaigner Mary Whitehouse hailed this series as ‘a welcome return to wholesome family entertainment’.
THE LATE 1970s
AS THe rest of the world grew more permissive, so too did Love Island. In 1978, for the very first time, the producers announced that it was to be filmed abroad — though sceptics argued that Cornwall, though different, was not abroad.
Additional glamour was introduced to the series with the inclusion of an inflatable paddling pool in the Love Island garden, though contestants were permitted to remove only their socks and shoes, and to roll up their trouser legs to a position ‘lower than both knees’.
Further innovations proved more controversial. On the final Saturday evening, viewers were taken aback to see contestants dipping pieces of bread into a shared cheese fondue live on British television — and without napkins.
‘Nothing of this nature has ever been seen on television before’ railed Mary Whitehouse. ‘If you ask me, we have reached the giddy limit.’
The 1979 series was scheduled against the popular U.S. TV series Starsky & Hutch, with the result that Love Island achieved its lowest ratings ever. So few viewers tuned in that, during its eight weeks of live filming, Love Island became a popular haven for runaway criminals in search of a hideout. The 1978 Sun headline, ‘Lord Lucan Spotted With Ronnie Biggs Sharing Beers On TV’s Love Island’ dates from this time.
THE 1980s
IN A series of bids to boost its declining ratings, the show went through a variety of transformations in the early eighties. In 1983, re-branded as Shove Island, it featured celebrities known for their forthright behaviour, among them former Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten, footballer Norman ‘Bites yer Legs’ Hunter and Conservative MP edwina Currie. However, this format proved unpopular, so in 1984, sponsored by a tobacco giant, it was renamed Cough Island, with contestants obliged to smoke 20 cigarettes a day, or 25 at weekends. Its next re-branding, as Moth Island had contestants dressed only in old jerseys and relaxing on antique sofas, but it proved popular only with the winged insect community . By the middle of the decade, the format seemed to have been exhausted, but then TV mogul Lew Grade was advised that by introducing bikinis he could double the ratings. Sadly, this resulted in a dramatic drop in audience figures. At first, TV controllers were bemused by this disappointment. Only later did they learn from focus groups that star contestant, former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Robert Mark, looked ‘unseemly’ and ‘a real turn-off’ in his regulation black-and-white, polka-dot, police bikini. From now on, inclusion on Love Island would be restricted to attractive young men and women who were prepared to be ‘spontaneous’ and ‘a bit of a laugh’, and who could boast an IQ of less than 60, if the wind was blowing in the right direction through their ears.